Brown football prepares to open training camp; why there's renewed hope this season
It’s been a painstaking process for Brown football coach James Perry.
The jump he made to his alma mater after a short stint at Bryant came with some challenges. The Bears featured a thin roster and hadn’t won an Ivy League game in two years.
Just building up numbers on the sidelines was a small victory. That’s translated to competition for starting spots, and there is legitimate hope Brown might be edging closer to something resembling contention in the league.
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“When you have 110 guys, you can create competition in ways you just can’t with 87,” Perry said. “It’s just literally impossible.”
The Bears finished 3-7 overall last season and 1-6 in the conference. Some of their defeats — by a touchdown at Harvard, by a field goal against Cornell, in overtime against Columbia — hinted at progress. But it’s little consolation for all those hours of offseason work when you come up short on Saturdays.
Brown was picked eighth in the league’s preseason poll, which was released last week. The Bears are one of three teams in the conference that hasn’t earned at least a share of the regular season title since 2015. That sort of parity suggests both depth and an annual opportunity to reach the top.
“Competition is at its peak,” Brown wide receiver Wes Rockett said.
Rockett is one of the key returners and could be among the most talented players in the league at his position. Brown needs to recruit and develop more impact performers — the Bears didn’t have a selection on the all-conference first team at the close of 2022. Rockett was named to the second team and junior defensive back Isaiah Reed was honorable mention.
“We’re at a point in this league where if you want to be a first-team all-leaguer at your position, almost implicit in that is you’re an NFL-caliber player,” Perry said. “Each and every school in this league is producing guys yearly.”
Yale is a strong favorite to repeat as league champion, collecting 13 of 16 first-place votes. Princeton, the Crimson and the Lions each picked up one and Penn slotted between those four teams in third place. Dartmouth, the Big Red and Brown took up the bottom three spots.
“We’ll be pushing them,” Perry said. “We always did. But it’s a more productive way to attack training camp when you’re full steam ahead with 110.”
Jake Willcox returns for a second year as the primary starter at quarterback. He completed 64.9% of his passes while playing in seven games last season, but just 12 touchdowns against nine interceptions limited his efficiency. The Bears will need to be more stout with their run defense specifically — they allowed 5.5 yards per carry and more than 216 yards per game on the ground in 2022.
“I get the privilege to play against those guys every day,” Willcox said. “You better be ready to run. You better be ready to hit. Our guys are ready to go.”
Brown opens training camp on Thursday and will kick off the season with a Sept. 16 trip to Bryant. The Bears play their first league game on Sept. 22 at Harvard, a Friday night start that could be picked up by the league’s television package with ESPN. Home dates with the University of Rhode Island and Yale also highlight the schedule.
“Everybody’s just counting it down until Thursday when we get together,” Perry said. “That’s especially so at Brown in ‘23 because we’ve built this roster to a really healthy depth.
“I’m really proud of the kids. They’ve stuck together very, very well.”
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This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Brown football set to hit the gridiron on Thursday
